Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (2018)
Laura’s Rating: 4/5 Stars
This book was hugely popular a few years ago and after countless recommendations, I finally got around to reading it. It has a similar feel to Educated by Tara Westover, although this book is fictional.
The Analysis:
Called the “Marsh Girl'' by town locals, Kya Clark has lived on her family’s secluded land in North Carolina her whole life. One by one, her family members leave the marsh either to escape Kya’s angry, violent father or to pursue a future beyond the marsh. Kya grows up largely alone, avoiding school and interacting with other people only as necessary. Using and learning from nature, Kya makes a life for herself, but her reputation as a wild marsh girl makes her the prime suspect when handsome, young Chase Andrews is found dead.
“Please don’t talk to me about isolation. No one has to tell me how it changes a person. I have lived it, I am isolation.” This powerful quote from Kya really encapsulates her experience. After years of surviving on her own, Kya is incredibly strong and fiercely independent, but she also longs for human connection. The narration of the book spans most of Kya’s life and goes back and forth between two timelines: Kya’s early childhood starting in 1952 and when the body of Chase Andrews is found in 1969. The alternating timelines is not my favorite style of narration, but it served a purpose in this story. I also could do without the poems sprinkled throughout the book, which I didn’t think added much to the story. My final critique of the book is that some events, especially Kya’s survival as a very young child, didn’t seem totally plausible.
This book is beautifully written, with enchanting descriptions of nature and romance. Author Delia Owens pulls from many genres, which makes the book unique. Where the Crawdads Sing has the feel of a memoir, the grit of a survival story, the airiness of a romance, and the intrigue of a murder mystery. The novel is an incredible story of resilience and readers will find a plot that is both inspiring and unexpected.
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